Emylee Thai

On July12, 2022, Emylee Thai was charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks, and payment of kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program. The indictment alleges that beginning in or around 2019, Thai, a laboratory owner, contracted with marketers to refer signed doctors’ orders and beneficiary DNA samples to the laboratory in exchange for a percentage of the reimbursements. The genetic testing, for which Medicare often paid several thousands of dollars per beneficiary, was not medically necessary and often was not used in a beneficiary’s medical treatment. During this time period, Thai’s laboratory billed Medicare approximately $142 million for genetic testing and was paid approximately $95 million on those claims.

Following her arrest, Thai was granted bail with several pre-trial conditions, including wearing a location monitoring device to monitor her location. On December 8, 2022, Thai’s location monitor was removed, and her last known location was Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. Attempts to contact and locate Thai yielded negative results, and on December 9, 2022, an arrest warrant was issued for Thai. Investigation ultimately determined that Thai was able to flee the country via a private airplane utilizing a false identity.

On July 5, 2023, Thai was separately charged in a new indictment with destruction and alterations of records in a federal investigation.